Skip to main content
What Should I Do If I Get Burned?

You are listening to Health Library:

What Should I Do If I Get Burned?

Apr 12, 2021

Do you know what to do if you or a loved one were to be burned from something like a stovetop or fire? On today's Health Minute, Annette Matherly from the Burn Center at University of Utah Health walks us through the “four C’s” of first aid burn treatment.

Episode Transcript

Interviewer: What should you do if you get a burn injury? Annette Matherly from the Burn Center at University of Utah Health, what should I do?

Annette: We go to our four C's and those are cool it, clean it, cover it, and call for help. Cool it. Place it under cool, not cold, water for about 10 minutes to take the heat out of the tissues. Clean it with soap and water. Get the debris out of the tissues. Cover it because we want to stop the pain from those nerve endings. And then, we want to call for help.

Now, this could mean a couple of different things. If it's a large burn, then 911 may need to be alerted. If it's a smaller burn, that doesn't not necessarily mean that you don't need to call for assistance. It may be that you need to call a local burn center, because even a small burn injury can result in a lifetime of impairment if it's not treated correctly.

updated: April 12, 2021
originally published: July 25, 2017